A news editor will run from coast to coast in aid of a friend suffering from incurable cancer.

Emily Parsons, of the Carlisle News & Star, will run from St Bees, on the western edge of Cumbria, to the opposite side of the country, near South Shields.

Emily is completing the challenge, which will then see her completed the Great North Run the day afterwards, for her friend Rachel Cole, who has a brain tumour.

She has currently raised more than £1,000 in sponsorship ahead of the run.

Emily, right, with friend Rachel Cole

Emily, 32, told the News & Star: “I contemplated climbing Macchu Picchu or hiking the Great Wall of China, but they didn’t seem tough enough. If I’m going to do a big fundraiser then I want it to be the biggest fundraiser of my life and raise as much as possible.

“I’d already got a place for the GNR 2017 and suddenly thought ‘why not run there?’. Running had played a part in every stage of learning about Rach’s diagnosis, so it seemed fitting.

“Rachel and I ran the Race for Life in London together with my mum, and being from the North East the GNR is personal to her – and she ran it for her brother. So running is something that I relate to Rach.”

To sponsor Emily, click here.